Magical Rackets
by sodesne ON HAITUS
Summary: “Not all wizards use wands, some use their magic through other mediums. Swords, brushes, pencils….and in your case, tennis rackets.” HPXover
1. Magical Rackets

**Magical Rackets**

**Summary:** "Not all wizards use wands, some use their magic through other mediums. Swords, brushes, pencils….and in your case, tennis rackets." HPXover

Author's Notes

This was just a random idea because all of them do spectacular moves and tricks that don't seem to be too real. So I thought this would be quite fitting.

Magical Rackets

"Magic?" Echizen Ryoma repeated, staring up at an old man with a peculiar looking purple robe and twinkling blue eyes.

While getting a drink for himself, Ryoma found this old man standing in front of the machine pressing the buttons of the machine as if he were playing with it. Echizen was hardly truly suspicious of others, but this old man made it hard not to be suspicious. Who wore a heavy purple cloak in the middle of the summer? What type of foreigner walked into a junior high to play with the drink dispensers?

That was when the old man turned around and smiled at him. Sitting down on one of the benches, the old man patted the empty space next to him as if beckoning Ryoma to sit with him. The man introduced himself as Albus Dumbledore.

"I'm not someone to be cautious about. I'm just how I look, a harmless, old man," he said as if to relax the boy sitting beside him. Echizen didn't know why he felt suddenly relaxed as the old man started in a one-sided conversation. Then he suddenly asked, "Do you like to play tennis?"

"…" Ryoma didn't answer the old man, instead he walked up to the drink machine to get himself something. It was hot, and the jersey wasn't helping. He tucked his racket under his arm in a casual fashion that he always did, as he bent down to take the can that fell from the bottom he no longer felt the weight of his racket under his arm. Looking for the disappeared racket, Ryoma found it in the old man's hands.

Those old, wrinkled fingers seemed to inspect it and he turned it around scrutinizing every side. He asked him question, when he got the racket, how long has he had it with him, and how he treated it. Suddenly the old man looked up solemnly to Ryoma, his blue eyes still twinkling. That's when he asked the question that would turn Echizen's world around, "Do you believe in magic?"

Echizen stood in a daze, what did this Albus Dumbledore mean? Magic as in magic tricks with disappearing coins and flying cards, or magic as in fire flying off the tips of fingers and making the weather change? "You mean wizards and witches with wands and potions?"

"Yes, 'wizards and witches with wands and potions' as you put it," the old man said in an amused way. He reached for a long stick in his pocket and flicked it reciting some words in some unknown language. Ryoma froze as the can in his hand floated above his head. As he stared at the can that hung suspended in midair, he didn't notice Fuji Syusuke coming their way with a towel and racket in hand.

Fuji was having a relatively normal day; waking up, breakfast, practice…. Everything was just going like a normal day that was when he choose to cool down after doing some hand-and-eye coordination exercises. The facets were near the drink dispenser, where their youngest regular wandered off during practice to presumably get a soda. As he was thinking about having a drink himself, from under his towel he noticed something in the air that cast a shadow over his face. He would have just ignored it if it left, assuming it as a bird or something similar. However, the object stayed in one place forcing the famed genius to look up to see a can of soda hanging in midair.

The racket in his hand almost slipped out of his grasp, but the towel did. Hastily he bent down to retrieve the white cloth, looking up again the can was still suspended in thin air. No trick wires or _anything_. He opened his eyes to reveal icy blue sapphires that were melted with shock. Fuji never questioned magic or such, but he never thought of magic in such a literal sense. Looking around for the source, he spotted their freshmen player and an old man with a peculiar sense of fashion. The old man was holding up a stick that was pointed to the floating can, as the stick directed it back down the can followed. A soft 'plunk' as it fell into Ryoma's awaiting hands.

"That's your magic?" Ryoma asked, examining the soda can looking for anything that didn't look right. Finding none, he opened the can in a nonchalant manner. "That was pretty flashy, Dumbledore."

"If I didn't do such, would you have believed me?" the man, Dumbledore, reasoned. Fuji decided to just observe from there, it was a cozy spot on the grass beneath the leafy trees. He listened intently as the purpose of this foreigner slowly unraveled.

Eiji Kikumaru was playing with his double partner, Oishi Syuichiroh, when he spotted something in the air. It was small and almost unnoticeable, ignoring it as his imagination in the heat he concentrated on the game. As he went into a Dive Volley for a ball the small object started lowering, it was slight and slow but still descending. Then it fell, disappearing into the trees making Eiji completely turn his head away from the ball to see missing the yellow tennis ball completely. His vision was near perfect, it couldn't have failed him now.

Dabbing the sweat on his face with the back of his hand, he pondered maybe the heat was making him see things? _Curiosity killed the cat…_Eiji thought to himself resisting the temptation to give an excuse and go find out what exactly did he see. He looked toward that area once more, Eiji called to his doubles partner, "Oishi, I'm going to cool down!"

"Sure, I'll be going up to the conference room to help Tezuka with the match ups," Oishi yelled back wiping himself with a towel. "Just do some practice matches with Taka-san or Momo when you come back."

"Hoi!" _…But satisfaction brought him back._

Dashing down the blacktop he was about to run right into Echizen when someone grabbed his arm and pulled him behind a bush. Eiji was about to exclaim but someone, who he identified as his best friend, placed his hand over Eiji's mouth. Fuji placed his other hand in front of his hand signaling him to stay quiet and pointed to their freshman player.

"…I'm giving you an invitation to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," the old man who was with Ryoma said.

"Eh, Ochibi's being scouted!" Eiji whispered loudly making Fuji shush him once more and listened intently.

"To play with magic tricks?" Ryoma asked taking a sip of his soda.

"…they're not your normal magic tricks, not everyone can do these things," the old man said quietly handing Echizen a brown envelope with some type of seal on it.

"Only 'wizards and witches' can do these _tricks_," Ryoma clarified with a slightly disbelieving tone.

"True."

"I don't wave wands around and say Latin or Greek words," Echizen said in confirmation, however his hand was still clasped around the thick brown envelop.

"Not all wizards use wands, some use their magic through other mediums. Swords, brushes, pencils….and in your case, tennis rackets," the old man said.

"Tennis rackets?"

"Your fellow teammates can use little to a lot of magic," the old man said. "It's not normal for a middle school student like your captain, Tezuka was it, to be able to play in an almost pro level."

"Then why are you asking only me?" Ryoma inquired.

"They've used their magic with their tennis racket for so long, that they will not be able to change mediums," the old man said calmly. "However, you still can become a fantastic wizard if you decide to change. You haven't made your magic stable on one medium yet, it could still be changed."

"...I won't go, there are still things I have to do," Ryoma answered. He held out the envelop for the older man to take back, however he pushed the envelop back.

"You still have until all of August to make a final decision, Hogwarts starts their year on September 1st," with some last parting words, the old man disappeared in thin air leaving Ryoma with only a brown envelop proving that the man even existed and it wasn't a dream.

Owari (probably)

A/N: Actually I'm probably going to leave it hanging there since my inspiration just abandoned me. I may continue it later showing their reactions and maybe Ryoma's final decision. Be nice, this is my first PoT fic. Reviews are happily accepted, constructive criticism is gratefully taken, and flames are used to light up my fireplace for Christmas! Only 9 days before Christmas!


	2. Changing Mediums

**Magical Rackets**

**Summary:** "Not all wizards use wands, some use their magic through other mediums. Swords, brushes, pencils….and in your case, tennis rackets." HPXover

Author's Note

I've decided to continue it because of Harry Draco Malfoy's review. I was all like, "hum….Fuji huh? I'VE GOT IT!" Then the chapter evolved from there.

Disclaimer: Tennis no Oujisama isn't mine, neither is Harry Potter.

Changing Mediums

Fuji Syusuke walked down the sidewalk which would eventually lead him to his house. Once in a while a car would pass on the street, but there was no one in sight. Without really paying attention to where he was going, Fuji walked into the park where he and his younger brother, Yuuta, used to play as children. The summer sun was ruthless to all that wandered beneath it's rays.

Escaping into the shade, Fuji's thoughts were solely focused on what happened earlier that day. Something that the old man said couldn't be erased from his mind, it just kept coming back.

"…They will not be able to change mediums," Fuji whispered softly. Taking another step and almost stumbling to the ground, he heard a crack which source was beneath his foot. A long branch which was broken in half with his unusually clumsy step, Fuji picked up one of the pieces and rolled it around in his fingers. He held it out in front of him and slightly swished it in the air. Fiji felt extremely childish and foolish doing this, what kind of junior high student his age waved sticks around in hope of magic springing out the end?

_He cancelled the floating with a swish and a flick_, Fuji remembered and at the cue swished and flicked it. _I believe he said something?_

It was when Fuji started feeling frustrated with himself flicking that piece of wood around, when someone who was to his left said, "I believe the words your looking for are _Wingardium Leviosa_?"

Turning to the benches that were underneath the baking sun, he saw that old man that was talking to Ryoma earlier. His blue eyes observed the man for a while, the weirdly dressed foreigner just gave an encouraging nod as if a parent giving consent for a child to do something. Fuji eyed the stick in his hand trying the word on his mouth, making it sound fluent. _I might as well give it a try_…

"_Wingardium Leviosa_," Fuji uttered, he swished and flicked the piece of wood at the other half of the branch by his feet. With much amazement, the broken branch gave a lurch into the air. Trying it again with much more confidence, Fuji felt much accomplishment as the branch reached eye level.

"No wonder you were given the title of _tensai_," the old man (what was his name? Dumbledore?) said, this time he was standing beside the boy giving the usually at ease Fuji a shock that the wobbling branch in the air fell to the ground. The old man just smiled in a mysterious way and passed the boy an envelop, explaining, "It would be a waste for such a person like you with such flexible magic not to receive some education on the matter."

"September 1," Fuji recalled. "Is when I have to give my answer, no?"

"Exactly," the old man smiled, with just a blink of the eye the white bearded old man disappeared.

The usually humid summer breeze was cool and refreshing, Fuji Syusuke smiled in his own mysterious way and tucked the envelop into the pocket of his jersey.

_What a nice breeze…_

Just a hour before Fuji had his little experience with magic, someone else who eavesdropped with the tensai already did. And his partner was in, and still was in, a great shock.

When the old man who gave Ryoma the small envelope disappeared, Echizen just walked away in a daze as if doubting the man he just saw was real or just a figment of his imagination. After the first year passed the spot where Fuji and Eiji were hiding, Fuji made his nonchalant way out of the bushes as if it were normal to walk into bushes, not that Ryoma noticed.

Eiji Kikumaru did not have the best motion vision on the team from self-proclamation; he saw a small folded piece of paper fall out of the old man's pockets when he vanished. He doubt that Echizen wouldn't have noticed if it were not for the shock of what just happened, and Fuji seemed too wrapped up in his own thoughts. When both disappeared into the courts, Kikumaru jumped out of the bushes and snatched that up that piece of paper.

Feeling it with his fingers, it didn't feel like paper more like _parchment_? The red head pondered the reason why the old man was carrying a piece of parchment with him, but dismissed it as he unfolded the parchment.

"_When…friend…hurt_?" Kikumaru read in his broken English, he frowned as he continued reading. "_W-and…f-l-i-c-k…fli…ck…flick?_"

Scrutinizing it over again, Eiji soon had the umeboshi expression. Slipping it into the trusty pocket of his jersey, Kikumaru decided to ask someone about it later. In his happy daze, he ran into his doubles partner, literally.

"Eiji, I was getting worried when you didn't come back," Oishi said with a relieved expression as he kept Eiji from falling backward. "Tezuka already finished the match ups, so we came back to the courts and I noticed you weren't there. Fuji said that you were taking a drink, but after ten minutes I…"

"Neh, Oishi!" Eiji cut his friend off and took out the little piece of parchment waving it around in front of Oishi. "Can you read this? Your English is way better than mine!"

"Huh?" Oishi eye's followed the parchment back and forth before he grabbed the enthusiastic red-head's wrist to stop the waving. "Let me read it then!"

"Eh, sorry," Eiji apologized, he handed the parchment over. "I want to know that's on it."

"It says: _when a friend is hurt…wand flick and down…ward…swish…_" Oishi said carefully, he fumbled with the 'swish' and stared at the last word with confusion. "_Epi…s…key?"_

"_Episkey_?" Eiji asked, he tried the word on his tongue. It was unnatural that he knew something was different with this word, something that he should remember unlike the others. Yet no matter how he said it, it just sounded weird coming out of his mouth.

"I think it means that when a friend is hurt, something about a wand flicking and a downward swish…I don't have a clue what this _episkey_ means though," Oishi translated for his friend, seeing that English was Eiji's worst class. After the explanation, something seemed to dawn on Kikumaru which he didn't tell the other boy. Oishi was worried at what this could be about, since usually they didn't use the word 'wand.' It was just a coincidence that he just read some books on Western magicians that he learned the word 'wand.'

_Could it be…healing magic?_ Eiji thought in excitement. He always loved anything to do with magic and sorcery since they seemed so unexplainable just like the some of the moves that his teammates knew. He wanted to try it out immediately and looked for any type of cut or bruise that he might have had. It was disappointing to know that Eiji already mastered most of his aerobatic moves that he almost never falls and hurts himself.

Sensing the other boys disappointment, for whatever reason he didn't know, Oishi said quickly, "Do you want to go get some ice cream after practice? It'll be nice since it's been so hot lately."

"Nya?" Eiji seemed to perk up immediately, his gloom seemed to be long forgotten. "Ice cream?"

"Yep," Oishi smiled, he pushed Eiji toward the courts. "_After_ practice though, not now."

A/N: I'm leaving it hanging from there. The next chapter will be interesting. For anyone who is happy that I continued, thank Harry Draco Malfoy. I got my inspiration back because of Harry Draco Malfoy! Thank you!

And thanks to all that reviewed my previous chapter, making me feel all happy inside that some people liked it!


	3. No Meduim

**Magical Rackets**

**Summary:** "Not all wizards use wands, some use their magic through other mediums. Swords, brushes, pencils….and in your case, tennis rackets." HPXover

Author's Note

Ah, it feels good to have inspiration.

Disclaimer: Tennis no Oujisama isn't mine, neither is Harry Potter.

No Medium

"Nya, I won!" Eiji exclaimed after a match with a second year, whose name escaped his memory. However, it was a close match since in the middle of the game his knee started hurting.

His thoughts kept returning to this 'episkey' but he didn't go into a daze like both Fuji and Echizen. Kikumaru hardly ever kept secrets from Fuji and it was hard not to go up to his best friend and blab it all out. Eiji felt extremely guilty for keeping secrets from Oishi, since the other never kept anything from the red-head unless the other knew Eiji didn't want to know it. Oishi would want to know what is going on, and how come Ochibi was being scouted…_scouted!_

"Oishi! Tezuka!" the acrobatic player yelled on the top of his lungs running into the building and toward the empty class room where Tezuka and Oishi were supposed to be at. However, the classroom was empty with only the desks and chairs as the only occupants. "I swore that they went back into the classroom in the middle of my game, I saw them at the window!"

_Where could they be…_Eiji asked himself, true that Ryoma being scouted wasn't a life threatening thing, but it was almost as serious. The aerobatic player was desperately thinking where they could be, when he heard the faint talking of people he turned toward the door hopefully. That was when he heard Echizen's voice, Eiji made a quick dash to the desks by the windows.

It was a tight fit, but Eiji found himself able to hide behind the wooden desks. He prayed to whatever inhuman being that was watching or stalking him that ochibi and whoever was with him wouldn't notice him.

"Echizen, what is it that you wanted to talk about?" Tezuka's voice rang clear through the silent classroom as the plastic sliding door opened with a small click the closed with the same sound.

"Buchou," Ryoma started as Tezuka sat down into a chair, but he hesitated. "Do you believe in magic?"

_Could it be that…_Eiji pondered to himself, his thoughts immediately trailed to the incident that happened less than an hour ago. With that in mind, Kikumaru slightly shifted so that he could watch for anything unusual that might happen. He leaned backward slightly to see between the gap of the chair's back and the next desk.

"Why?" Tezuka asked looking slightly puzzled. "I believe that there is some reason behind your question."

"Never mind," Echizen said turning to leave. From Eiji's point of view, Tezuka was mildly surprised. To what, Kikumaru could only guess. The sliding door closed with a soft click, and blue eyes followed the shadow of the youngest regular until he disappeared from the windows.

Tezuka took something out of his pocket, it was slightly yellowish and in the shape of a folded envelope. It looked old and wrinkled as if the captain had it for a long time, Eiji strained his eyes to see a small seal that was supposedly made of wax as Tezuka looked at the side with the address. On the purple seal bore a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake around a large letter _H_, whatever that stood for.

Turning around the envelope, the address spoke for itself that the letter was definitely for Tezuka. Kikumaru leaned even further back to see their captain was just about to break the seal when suddenly the desk scraped against the tiled floor. It was almost inaudible but in the silent classroom it rang out like a crystal bell.

"Who's there?" Tezuka asked sternly, with the shuffling of papers, Eiji knew that Tezuka had put the envelope away. Kikumaru wasn't the aerobatic player for nothing, in an instant he maneuvered his way down through rows of desks. Eiji thought in wonder why he wasn't all nervous, instead the red-head currently possessed an unusual calmness that allowed him to move through the classroom and escape Tezuka's notice.

Once, twice, and then the third time, Kikumaru evaded Tezuka's notice narrowly and after checking the classroom again, Tezuka made his way for the door. Eiji almost sighed when he heard the door slide open, it was when Tezuka said as if reminding himself that the aerobatic player almost hit his head against the topside of the desk he was hiding underneath.

"I should go see how Oishi's doing, that scrap on his knee looked really bad." Without another word the door slid shut.

_Scrap on his knee?_ Eiji thought a little fearful. He waited until Tezuka's footsteps disappeared before fleeing to the infirmary. How could Oishi scrap his knee while in the classroom, unless something fell on him, or maybe he fell off the stairs, or… Endless possibilities ran through his head, however none of them seemed too real. He slowed down to a jog when the infirmary came into sight, opening the door he went in.

The red-head was too caught up in concern for his partner to notice his captain following him ready to give him laps. Tezuka had a feeling it was the aerobatic player, but wasn't that sure until he purposely made that comment while exiting. It was a long wait, but as he suspected once he stopped walking Eiji raced out the classroom toward the infirmary. Usually Tezuka wasn't someone to care who was eavesdropping, but what just happened in the classroom…this matter was something extremely different.

It wouldn't be right for the most talkative and exclamatory member to go talk about it everywhere are raise suspicions that Tezuka knew that Inui held against him. If anything were to leak while Kikumaru was talking to Oishi, Tezuka had to make sure that he was there to stop any more information from coming out. Leaning against the wall next to the opened door of the infirmary, he listened to their exchange of words.

"Oishi, I heard that you were hurt!" Eiji exclaimed totally forgetting the opened door and raced to his partner's side. Even thought Tezuka couldn't see his expression, it was a good guess that it was one of concern.

"Eiji, it's just a small scrap on the knee," Oishi said stuttering like he was flustered. Tezuka's second guess that that Eiji either threw himself on Oishi or did some similar. "I just came to get it disinfected."

"My knee was also hurting during practice," Kikumaru said in a not so soft voice. That made Tezuka listen more intently, Oishi got a scrap on his knee and Kikumaru's knee started hurting? Even that is too much for coincidence.

"Eh?" Oishi made a questioning sound and the mother hen inside of him starting firing away. "Did you not stretch before? Or did you hurt yourself yesterday? I knew I should have asked you about when you fell."

"I bet I can make it all better again!" Eiji said in excitement. Tezuka had the strangest urge to peek in, but he wasn't here to see Kikumaru's comforting methods for his doubles partner. Kunitsumi knew that usually his first hunch was correct so he looked in as something started to glow. "Episkey!"

"…Eiji, what did you just do?" Oishi asked bewildered. The bloody scrap was gone, replaced with smooth skin. It was as if he never hurt himself. Tezuka sighed with a satisfied quirk of the lips, he just walked toward the direction of the tennis courts. He wasn't needed here, so why stay?

_This is a first, no medium at all, just hands_, Tezuka thought as he listened to Kikumaru's exclamations, Oishi's not-so-quite questions, and his own footsteps. Eiji was so preoccupied with how the spell worked, that he didn't notice his pocket got heavier. However, once he noticed, Eiji Kikumaru would find an exact same envelope with the wax seal: the coat of arms bearing; a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake surrounding a large letter _H_. This time addressed to him.

Kawamura Takashi wasn't a loud person or an extremely quiet one either, due to his dual personality. He certainly wasn't a superstitious one that's for sure. It may have just been coincidence, but as his father liked to say, "There is no coincidence, it was just meant to happen." If it was meant for him to see that phenomenon, or illusion, then for what reason?

It was just ten minutes ago, so the incident was fresh in his memory. He was asked by a teacher to drop off something at the infirmary, being the nice person he was, he agreed and was on his way. When Kikumaru raced past him without any recognition, Takashi was puzzled as he left without noticing, however Tezuka, who was following the red-head, didn't notice him either. It was almost like he was _invisible_.

Kawamura just continued his walk to the infirmary trying to ignore the unrealistic events that were happening. That was when he heard Eiji's loud fussing over Oishi, from what he heard. As he turned the corner, their silent buchou was leaning against the wall next to the opened door. Takashi walked through the doorway and lightly placed the boxes on the floor. When Eiji or Oishi didn't noticed him, Takashi just decided that it was due to the bloody scrap that was on Oishi's knee.

"Episkey!" Kawamura turned just in time to see the scrap disappear as if it were never there in the first place. It reminded him of magic, the sudden flash of light and the impossible happening. He walked back into the hall just as Tezuka quirked his lips in a self-satisfied smile and turned away apparently in deep thought.

Now, he walked toward the tennis courts with his usual smile. Was it magic? Or was it some illusion? For know he didn't want to ask question, Takashi gripped on his tennis racket. What matters more than BURNING?

_That's weird,_ Kawamura thought to himself as he began is practice match with Momoshiro. _In the summer there is usually no mist…_

---

----

---

"Why has Voldemort chosen that island country?"

"It's said that he even sent dementors!"

"Do they even have ways to protect themselves?"

"Oh dear…"

A/N: This chapter was really hard for me to write! It's probably since school is starting tomorrow and I'm stressed about stuff right now. I needed someone to know everything that's going on and who better than Tezuka, our favorite buchou? (After Atobe of course, damn I'm obsessed over Hyotei.) If any of you have read the third and/or fifth book of Harry Potter, you'd know what the section at the end implied at. If you don't get it, you'll just find out in the next chapter right? And yes, I do intent to get other schools involved in this. (HYOTEI, HYOTEI, HYOTEI)

This might become a really long or really short multi-chapter story. After school starts, I will not be able to post regularly as I've done over the winter break. However, I'll try to get a chapter done every three months. (I'm busy at school okay, I have many things to worry about, and since my father is home for the next few months I will have no free time what so ever.)

I will try my best to finish this story since most of the ideas are in my head. However, if you have a suggestion please make it. I may not reply for a while but I will try to check my e-mail at least once every week. I'm probably not finishing any of my Naruto stories since nothing has sparked my inspiration, and what doesn't help is that I'm addicted to Prince of Tennis at the moment.

This is probably the last chapter for this month. I'm sorry people's I have a life, and I intent to live it to the fullest. (While writing fanfiction.)


	4. Explosion

**Magical Rackets**

**Summary:** "Not all wizards use wands, some use their magic through other mediums. Swords, brushes, pencils….and in your case, tennis rackets." HPXover

Author's Notes

XxInuyashaLoverxX thanks for the idea! I actually had a similar idea in mind, but your comment made it a lot clearer. Thanks! Thanks to all those that have been reading since the beginning and those who started reading now!

Dementors

"Echizen, it's sure hard to see with all this fog," Momoshiro Takashi said to the freshman who held onto his shoulders for support. They were on Momo's bike taking the usual road to school, and if it weren't for the fact that Momo lived around the place for almost his whole life, they might have gotten lost in the thick misty area. A monosyllable 'hn' agreed with his statement, but it escaped the second years notice as he was in deep thought.

It was weird for Momo to see his family members mope around the kitchen table. Instead of his usual chirpy family, all of them had their shoulders sagging and feet dragging on the floor. An air of depression clenched the air making everyone feel a little, however Momo felt usually happy and energetic. When he went to pick up Echizen, his older cousin looked as if the world has fallen apart as she went to call of Ryoma. Even the nice old woman that waters her flowers in the morning looked like as if death came early.

Ryoma looked forward toward the mist, he could see the slightly outlines of buildings and poles. It was unusual that his happy-go-luck cousin was depressed about something. What puzzled him even more was that his father was _also _feeling down to the point that he didn't even bother to ask his son for a game of tennis after school. Looked at the back of Momo's head, Echizen remembered that goofy smile that his sempai gave him when the older picked him up. The taller boy seemed to have no depressions at all, hidden or obvious.

A figure resembling a black cloaked figure which was moving toward them made the younger boy exclaim for his sempai to stop. The bike screeched to a stop and the figure disappeared. He hardly heard Momo ask him if something was wrong as he searched for whatever he saw, numbly, Echizen nodded his head and they went toward the direction of the school again.

_My imagination…?_

---

Tezuka looked outside and cursed inwardly. For the next two weeks, they were supposed to have practice matches with different schools. It was already a pain that Hyotei Gakuren was first on the list since Fudomine had summer courses this week, now this? Walking to his closet and taking out a medium sized travel case that lie on the bottom, fumbling with the lock he opened the old case.

It was four years since he last open it and he had wished that he never needed to open it again, but it has been a while since he encountered these _things_. Taking out a polished wooden stick, he twirled in his hands for a while as if getting used to feel. Securely locking the case, he carefully placed it back into the closet. Placing the wand into his uniform pocket, Tezuka Kunimitsu felt himself return to the world that he abandoned for tennis.

…_a 'simple Muggle sport' as he used to say even though he's playing it now as well…_

---

Kaidoh Kaoru breathed in, then heaved a big sigh. He has spent the last ten minutes trying to explain why that the last ball had been _his_ not that _baka's_. They had been playing doubles against Oshitari and Gakuto, when Momo went for a ball that should have been Kaidoh's. For a moment he felt pity for the Hyotei genius who tried, tried is the keyword, to stop them. It was their first practice with Hyotei and depression hung low on the courts. There was a couple of people who felt none of the depression that was going around.

Atobe Keigo for instance, he strut proud as a peacock onto the courts as if he owned them. It was almost a white and black contrast with him and the rest of the team. Atobe seemed to just be radiating with pride and self-love, even though the thought of self-love made Kaidoh sick to his stomach, he seemed much healthier than the rest of the team. Jiro was asleep like always, so it was hard to see if he was depressed at all, and Kabaj was looking like the stone block he always was. The depression could be seen the most by Gakuto's face and posture, the usual energetic red head was slumped again his doubles partner with a look as if nothing mattered anymore.

The least depressed team seemed to be Seigaku, since Echizen, Peach boy (seriously, who wanted others to call him 'momo'?), Tezuka-buchou, Fuji, and the Golden Pair were all looking as chirpy compared to the rest of the world, which was weird, since Tezuka and Echizen never looked _chirpy_. Kawamura was on the depressed side, but once he gripped his racket all that disappeared in an instance. Inui never looked like anything except maybe sadistic pleasure like the look Fuji sometimes has, so it was hard to know if the dubbed Data man was depressed at all.

"Kaidoh, Momoshiro, stop this immediately," Tezuka's voice rang out snapping Kaidoh out of his thoughts and back at the situation at hand. Arguing with the buchou wasn't something Kaidoh wanted to do, but instead of listening to the older boy like he'd usually do, he pointed his racket at the other boy seeing that the other was doing the same to him.

Most people would say that they didn't notice what happened because it happened to fast. Kaidoh saw everything clearly, the raised their rackets and the rackets clashed with each other. Usually when people get knocked out, they see black, but since Kaidoh was seeing white with explosions of red and green he knew that he wasn't unconscious at least. When the white faded and color came back again, both he and Momo were on the ground with only the handle of the racket in their hands.

Everyone was awed, while others relieved. Tezuka and Atobe looked as if they just narrowly escaped death, but Fuji had the most shocked look that Kaidoh think he ever saw on his sempai. Oshitari was clinging onto the fence of the tennis courts his hair blown back and glasses hanging on left his ear, he seemed relieve to escape the explosion since he was standing right next to them trying to stop them. The blow woke the sleeping member of Hyotei who fell asleep after his match with Fuji.

"Gas has color too?" Jiro asked rubbing his eyes without knowledge of what happened.

With the silence broken with such a statement, everyone started laughing. Some laughed because they found Jiro's statement funny, others laughed because they were relieved that the tense silence was broken, and some laughed just because the others laughter was contagious. Tezuka looked as though he was adjusting his glasses, when he was shaking with silent laughter. Momo's was a clear bell over the other while Fuji chuckled with Echizen who started to choke on the water he just drank. The Hyotei team started laughing too, Shishido had to lean against Choutarou since he was laughing that hard. Gakuto was already on the ground rolling with laughter, and Oshitari was laughing as his glasses fell of his ear.

Atobe found himself chuckling but stopped himself promptly, tapping Tezuka on the shoulder who also ceased his laughter suddenly. With their best captain voices they order everyone to get back into their games. Everyone grudgingly obeyed, but Kaidoh observed that everyone's spirits were higher and the depression on the court disappeared. Kaidoh couldn't help but question himself what happened that made their rackets explode, but as their game progressed, he focused solely on the game and forgot about it.

Unknown to the tennis teams, tall figures with black hoods and sweeping cloaks were headed toward Seigaku to where the happiness was.

---

Atobe Keigo wasn't stupid. Unlike Tezuka who had ultimately severed any ties with the magical world, Atobe had the Daily Prophet sent to him every week. Yes, he was the one that proclaimed to Tezuka that tennis was a 'simple Muggle sport' so many years ago. Once Tezuka left, Atobe faced family reasons and society's rejection which forced him to also leave the magical world behind. It was sort of awkward now when they meet on the tennis courts in the middle of the day to play tennis instead of empty corridors at the dead of night to duel. As he was saying, he wasn't stupid.

Lingering mist, coincidental depression of large amounts of people, and the panicking of the magical world? This was not some well timed practical joke. How could Tezuka forget the first lesson he learned in Defense of Dart Arts? Dementors which were supposed to guard Azkaban and which are not in the control of the Ministry of Magic anymore. What Atobe couldn't shake off was why are these creatures in Japan? The island country didn't have a magic school of it's own like China or even Korea had. In all of Asia, Japan has the least amount of witches or wizards, however all of those with magical powers either are extremely talented or harbor immense strength that isn't released until drastic measures are taken.

Undoubtedly that meant that most of them were Muggle born. There are few families that are pure blood and most of their names were lost through the decades. Atobe sniffed at the thought of being inferior to those so called 'pure bloods' that he never bothered to really care about those things. Continuing down his original trail of thought, to make everything less complicated: Voldemort (if there is a name, use it) had set his sights on Japan. For what reason, Atobe could take a vague guess.

It was said that the population of those with magical powers in Japan, strong and what not, have been growing in dramatic number. Most of the adolescence today either have been through magical experiences before or are about to before they become adults. If Voldemort ever took over Japan and take over its people, then his army would probably expand another 1,000,000 or more people. Which wouldn't be a good thing to the rest of the world.

Usually these magical qualities come out in sports, especially those with a ball to hit with a racket or paddle. Apparently magical powers intensify with a medium, however from personal investigation there have been exceptional basketball and soccer players that are able to release their magic from their bodies. That was very rare, for a caster not to use a medium.

Atobe gave a quiet sigh, the depression left the courts and the lighter atmosphere was welcomed like plants with the sun. With that, it meant that the happiness of the courts would draw the attention of some unwanted visitors. He could only hope that Tezuka brought his wand too.

Even with his fabulous skill, it takes much more than one person to fend off what could be a group of dementors. Even if it's just one, then even the memory charms would take a while since there are at least over 30 people around the area.

Atobe heaved a heavier sigh, it was time to receive his weekly Daily Prophet. Surely he can't let other see the owl flying in broad daylight. Walking toward the water faucets, he waited for the owl to send him the newspaper.

-----

Inui Sadaharu felt awfully suspicious about today. Everyone he met was down if not down right depressed. When he met up with the other regulars, he was beginning to doubt himself. None of them were brought down, it was just the opposite, it seemed as if they brightened up. Even with just a quirk of the lips Tezuka looked as if he was smiling fully. His juice didn't cause the desired effect either. This was probably a record breaking day, for most people were acting not according to their data.

When the little explosion happened, it reminded him of an incident that happened back when he was in the last year of elementary. Watching tennis ball after tennis ball throw themselves into the ball baskets was not the best way to end practice. He would have passed it off as hallucination if he didn't see Tezuka, who was still a new friend at that time, standing by the basket waving a stick around. The other boy noticed him but walked away as if nothing happened taking the ball basket with him. Inui was faced with two choices, chase him down and ask or turn away and pretend this never happened.

However, for the sake of future data, Inui let it slide. After all, nothing would be kept a secret for too long, especially how trouble always seems to go Tezuka's way. After what was supposed to be Atobe and Tezuka's first meeting back in their second year of middle school, he noticed how both of them were unusually comfortable in each other's presence as if they'd known each others for a long time. Even more, they talked about strange things. How many people used 'magic' or 'magical' for at least 25 times in a short conversation? 27 to be exact.

When he asked most of the other regulars, most known him since he transferred in the last year of elementary, before that no one knew where he came from. Some say he was from another district, some say he could have been there all along it was just that no one noticed him, and those who really exaggerate it exclaimed that Tezuka came from the heavens. If he were from another district, Inui would understand the connection between him and Atobe. However from what he knew, Atobe left halfway though elementary to study abroad. In England to be exact.

When some of his teammates actually talked about his leave, they said that he just disappeared for a year and a half then suddenly reappeared in their lives again. Atobe himself refused to elaborate on what he did in England, other than showing off his unaccented English Inui could learn nothing more from a direct approach. When the Kanto tournament came along, Inui abandoned his search for answers. However that was back in his second year, now that he was almost graduating and moving into a different district (his parent's felt it was the best to get away from a city for a year or two) he wanted answers to this complicated riddle.

Why were unusual things happening lately? How could some of his teammates execute moves that are nearly physically and mentally impossible? (His data tennis _was_ possible, but you just needed to be able to measure and calculate fast with your brain.) What was the connection between the Hyotei's captain and their own? Who, when, what, how, _why_?

Bumping into a figure as he walked toward the club room, Inui muttered a small excuse me but the other figure stood unmoving. Looking up, what he saw was about to burn its image in his mind forever.

A dark hooded figure with clammy hands, its very presence made the whole world seem hopeless. Inui Sadaharu would later learn that _it_ was a dementor…that is if he survives the encounter first.

A/N: Inui is hard to write since you don't know _what_ he's thinking about! I'm on an Atobe fetish right now, but yes, he will have a role in the story later on. This is still part of the introduction of the characters and the main problem. Later I will elaborate, but just not now. Too early in the story to explain everything or my first four chapters would have been like 25 pages each.

Thanks for all those who are read from the very beginning, and to those who started now I hope you find the story satisfying. If you find any mistakes or have any complaints of the story then please do say. If you are just going to flame me, try to sound intelligent and educated even if you are not.

My finals are over and I can head back into the world of fanfiction! Yay! Since I have Friday off, maybe I'll finish the fifth chapter by then! See you next time!


	5. Dementors

**Magical Rackets**

**Summary:** "Not all wizards use wands, some use their magic through other mediums. Swords, brushes, pencils….and in your case, tennis rackets." HPXover

Author's Notes

I'm glad everyone liked the last chapter! Now I'm afraid that this chapter would ruin your expectations. Thanks to all of those who gave such encouraging reviews!

Dementors

Atobe stared at the headlines with shock. This was not happening. How could this have happened? Albus Dumbledore of all people, dead. The old man was one of the reasons the Ministry of Magic didn't surrender, Atobe swore that they had a white flag stashed somewhere so they could surrender whenever they felt necessary, which would probably be when their _last_ _hope_ (please note the sarcasm), Harry Potter, fails them. Apparently, Death Eaters were able to penetrate Hogwarts many barriers and protections. With that, they cornered Dumbledore and killed him. Who killed him exactly many are skeptical.

Harry Potter himself had confessed that he saw Severus Snape do it. Atobe didn't exactly loath his former Potions professor, but he didn't have some undying admiration either. He remembered the man, with oily black hair and a razor tongue to go with his overly greasy look. Not someone he would admire, but since the professor never bothered him back when he was in Hogwarts, Keigo never saw the professor as an object of loathing. He impressed the professor by being a star over the rest, but it was rather grudgingly, since, on the contrary to popular belief, Atobe Keigo was _not_ in Slytherin.

It was hard to truly believe that the headmaster, whose office he had practically memorized from all his trips there, had finally died, murdered to be exact. Atobe had once thought that the man was unable to die or be killed. He never thought that Death Eaters, not Voldemort himself, would bring Dumbledore down. It seemed like an inerasable smudge on the image that the old man had given him. The old man in the picture stared back at him with a smile with his eyes, which would have been blue in color, twinkling with some sort of secret.

He glared at the picture accusingly as if he could somehow get his message across to the person who was no longer alive. Looking at the date of when it happened, Keigo noticed how it stated that Dumbledore died a month ago. That was awkward this paper should have been delivered to him a month ago, why it didn't come through there were many possibilities. The owl could have been intercepted, bad weather could have been a factor, and maybe the owl couldn't find him, which would be extremely suspicious since the owls found him when he was in Hong Kong for vacation.

Suddenly feeling frustrated with life, Atobe threw the newspaper and was satisfied with a dull 'thud' of it falling on the ground. His feelings were getting the best on him, and he knew it. Blaming the dementors on his sudden rush of anger and dejection, Atobe grabbed his racket and headed back toward the tennis courts not even retaliating to Echizen's greeting of 'Monkey King' as they passed each other.

It wasn't usual for Atobe Keigo to be so careless, he should have known better than to throw the newspaper around and leave it so others can see. However this time, it was a trick of fate that brought such carelessness…

------

Echizen Ryoma did not grow up in America not understanding English. There were a few words here and there he couldn't understand, but overall he read the paper's content; something about a group that caused destruction and fear. On the page there was a picture of some skull with a snake crawling out where the mouth was supposed to be, Ryoma blinked multiple times, he swore the picture was moving. Shaking his head to clear out that outrageous assumption, he went to gather the rest of the papers, some having fallen out, and tried to shuffle them together as you do with a messy deck of cards. His effort was futile since the papers were two times the size as normal printing paper, and his arms could not reach to stop them from folding over.

Feeling a wave of frustration, Echizen let go of the papers, but instead of falling down in an undignified heap, the papers arranged themselves together. Slightly shocked, he cautiously bent down to see a picture of an old man, the same old man that gave him the mysterious envelope. The old man smiled in Ryoma's direction, which finally convinced the young tennis player that the pictures were indeed moving, and beckoned him forward. Pulled to the secretive smile in the picture, Echizen picked up the papers and looked down at the headline, which was impossible to miss due to the large black letterings.

Someone called Albus Dumbledore was dead, looking at the date the man died a month ago, and seeing how he was on the front page this man was an important figure in which ever country the paper came from. Why was the Hyotei captain reading this paper though? While pondering why Atobe had the paper in the first place, Ryoma suddenly remembered something.

_The man introduced himself as Albus Dumbledore._

Then it clicked. It was that mysterious foreigner he met days ago. If Atobe knew something about this, then does that mean the monkey king is also a wizard or whatever they're called? Carefully folding the first page of the newspaper as small as the paper would allow, he tucked it into his shorts pocket and hurried back to the courts. As a detour he ran from the back of the clubroom, he saw Inui's lone figure as the older boy stared at something in fright.

Echizen couldn't see what exactly what he was afraid of…

------

Oishi Syuichiroh had decided to go back to the clubroom to fill some papers out for the budget of their tennis club. They needed some more plastic cones, since most of the old ones have broke somewhere or another, they needed lots of things now that he thought about it. Hearing a thud outside, he ignored it since it was probably, from the sound of it, some teacher's assistant who was passing by that dropped a stack of papers. It was quiet for a certain amount of time as he continued to fill out the papers. Looking down at the verification, they needed a signature from the captain and Oishi was certainly not the captain.

He was about to head out the door when he remembered that he needed to take Eiji's notebook back to him. Usually Oishi would have just waited until after practice, but he didn't want to forget about it. There was a commotion coming from the back of the club room, what type of commotion he didn't know. Standing on top of the benches, peeking over the club room lockers, and looking out the small window up there, he saw a bunch of what dark clothed men surrounding Inui.

_Gangsters?_

The situation didn't look good, and from his point of view it was not something students like himself could solve. Taking a brave step without looking down he slipped and a small crash ensued from his landing. What he didn't think would happen was see a hooded figure crawl in from the window. It was like a horror movie when some awful creature would crawl into your room and scare the wits out of the main character. At the moment, Oishi felt like a character who was in a scary movie however the only thing that was different was that there was no director to say 'cut' when things get too out of hand.

He heard heavy footsteps that were coming toward the outside. Who or what was coming toward him, it better be aid.

------

Eiji twirled around in alarm, there was something wrong with Oishi. He could feel it. Usually Kikumaru would just excuse it as a chilly wind but he was getting pictures of things, large with black clothes and no face, surrounding Inui. His fellow peer was surrounded by them, while another picture came into his mind. One was coming toward him, but rubbing his eyes, he saw nothing of the sort. It was pure instinct that made him run toward the clubroom with Fuji calling his name behind him. What screamed in his mind was that his best friend was in danger, and if he didn't get there fast enough, he would never be able to see his double's partner again.

Eiji ran like when he ran laps to not drink Inui's juices, maybe faster. It wasn't something that he'd take lightly, it was his partner they were talking about. Memories flooded him, but it wasn't from his eyes. The memories were of Oishi's family, the tennis team, and the times they spent together as double's partners. Opening the door quickly, he felt something that he wasn't usually acquaintances with.

Fear.

Dread.

Living as a quite normal teenager with no secret life outside of tennis, he was sheltered from most problems in society. No poverty, no starvation, and no worries about not having a roof over his head. This was the fear, or thrill, you get when you go on scary roller coasters, but he never knew that he'd soon get a taste of real fear before summer is over. And the dementors were just the beginning.

------

Tezuka felt like swearing _again_. The first time he wanted to do so was when Atobe clued him in that Voldemort was alive and had been for two years now. He felt like cursing when the little explosion from Momoshiro and Kaidoh happened. Now was because he wasn't able to detect the dementors that have gotten close enough that they were in the school, and that he wasn't able to make sure where everybody was so that no unexpected situations would happen. He no longer remembered where Inui disappeared off to, nor did he keep track on their youngest regular, Echizen. Atobe had disappeared a while ago and just came back on the courts, while Oishi was supposed to be in the clubroom writing some papers.

What worried him was the speed of that Eiji took off at toward the club house. It didn't take a genius with an IQ of 300 to guess that the Golden Pair had some sort of telepathy ability that allows them to feel what the other does. After that incident with the scrap, it was too much of a coincidence that one felt the hurt of another at exactly the same spot at the same time. At the speed Eiji was running at, you'd think that Oishi was about to die…

That was the fourth time Tezuka wanted to curse. He wanted to smack his head and yell at his own lack of observance. The dementors were on campus, which meant they could well be by the tennis courts. Precautionary actions such as set up wards, he had neglected and ignored. After all, with two knowledgeable individuals at the courts he didn't think anything would have gone wrong. If he didn't pick up the dementors, then probably Atobe would. He didn't count on the fact that Atobe might have been too wrapped up in his own emotions to notice the change.

Tezuka wasn't a very expressive person, but ever since the sudden thrust back into the world of magic he was experiencing emotions that usually were kept in check. He didn't usually feel fear. Fear was something he didn't need back in Japan, in the world of tennis. Fear was needed in the magical world, in the world where words can literally kill, in the world where dangerous creatures reside, in the world of wizardry and witchcraft.

Fear, yet a certain amount of thrill was running though his veins. Thrill, ha! Tezuka was about to laugh at himself to think that, dementors themselves were thrilling, but fighting off what could be a pack of them was _not_ thrilling.

-------

Echizen couldn't see what had caused such a ruckus. Everyone seemed to be worked up about an invisible foe. The past three minutes went by so quickly that he had a hard time to remember what happened. From where he was standing, all the multiple things going on were in view.

What he did remember vividly was Tezuka running yelling for him to leave. As that happened, he was dragged off by Atobe who lead him to the other side of the club house where from the large window he could see Eiji trying to get Oishi out of the club room in fright. Atobe later took off into the clubroom instructing him to do something, which was probably something along the lines 'stay there.' A couple of shouts of unknown words, everyone seemed relieved after that.

He still didn't understand what went on. They were all standing in the middle of an empty classroom, those who weren't involved left by instruction. The first question was asked by Fuji, but it struck the heart of all their questions:

"Explain what that was about."

Ryoma just stood there confused as everyone began to explode in questions, what were those things, why were they here, and what were those weird spell like incantations that drove the things off. Everyone had a description of the thing, clothed in black with no faces only a mouth, made the air seem damper, horrible smell.

"What are you talking about, there was nothing there."

When the seventh grader said that, stating his confusion, most were shocked. It was Eiji who in the end yelled in astonishment how ochibi couldn't see them. Atobe directed a quiet question toward Tezuka, but everyone stopped to listen.

"If Echizen can't see the dementors, does that mean he's not magical?"

A/N: I hated this chapter. Geez, I felt like I rushed though too many things. Well currently I'm very disappointed that our school soccer team lost (yes, I am on the soccer team). I'm even more disappointed that the other school showed little to no sportsmanship to us and basically mocked us for our loss. (They lost 6 to 0 on their last game and yet their mocking us for losing 2 to 1?!) If I start on the 6th chapter today, it'll probably take either a dark turn or be very sloppy like this one. Most likely the former than the latter or just a combination of both, I just really want to get this chapter out before I start doubting myself and delete it.

Thanks to all those who have been reading on. I apologize to the speedy chapter, I swear to make it up when I feel better. I should be writing this chapter when I don't feel as miserable, but I'm neglecting my homework, which I shouldn't be doing.

Sorry to the rant I have, I just needed to release that! Thanks to those who reviewed previously. I would appreciate some feedback! See you next chapter!


	6. Situation

**Magical Rackets**

**Summary:** "Not all wizards use wands, some use their magic through other mediums. Swords, brushes, pencils….and in your case, tennis rackets." HPXover

Author's Notes

I'm sorry about the last chapter. I don't know how happy I am that no one's expectations have been ruined…yet. Even though I'm supposed to be taking notes for this book "Gone with the Wind" I'm here on my computer writing fanfiction. I can feel tomorrow's evil glare that my teacher will be giving me.

Situation

Fuji mustered the energy to turn toward Echizen and stare. It was surely a tiring day. First, energy consuming tennis games; second, sudden dementor attacks; and third, mind boggling puzzles. He was a genius alright, but even genii have had times they wanted to just put their heads down and rest. Nothing was really correct anymore. After both he and Eiji confessed that they overheard an old man talk to Echizen, Atobe suddenly breaks the news and tells them that Dumbledore died a month ago. Furthermore there was a sudden urgency to go to this school called Hogwarts.

Everything was coming to him in broken pieces, but attempting one last time to straighten things out he came to this conclusion. Voldemort was a madman who liked to terrorize and kill people, Dumbledore was something like a principle of a magic school and was the only person Voldemort was afraid of, and Hogwarts was this magic school somewhere in Europe. Within this school, there is a boy, Harry Potter, who is supposed to be some savior, and everyone has their hopes that this boy with a lighting shaped scare (so a scar decides all?) can kill Voldemort. Nothing was making sense at the moment, but he still gave the smile that stated 'I know a secret that you don't.' Fuji wasn't a person who usually pretended to be smart, but at the moment he didn't know what else to do.

Tezuka and Atobe seemed to be having their own debate, phrases such as 'no more time' and 'have to leave soon' were widely used even if they were just worded differently. Inui had calmed down enough to begin writing notes in his trusty data book while Momo and Kaidoh seemed to be mentally at war with themselves wondering if what going on was true. Eiji was doing what he could to brighten up the dim atmosphere, even without the dementors the situation on hand had brought everyone's spirits down. The most asked questions, even if it was in their minds were:

_Why is this happening? How is this happening? Am I hallucinating? Atobe, Tezuka, what is _your_ connection to this?_

The two that know don't seem too keen in talking about it either. When the last question was asked, both just looked at each other as if telling the other to answer. In the end, the question was just met with silence. The silence that was broken by Echizen, who took out a newspaper article, proving that the whole magical society was in a dire situation, that's when they got to this point with everyone in their own little worlds.

Fuji slipped out of the tension filled classroom excusing himself that he needed a drink. He needed time to think by himself.

---------

Tezuka really didn't talk about his adventures back in the magical school. He doubted Atobe ever shared them with anyone else either. After all, these secret adventures were something special both of them and would like to hold to themselves. Friends that he had, all the firsts that happened, and even all the detentions he served from sneaking out after the curfew. He gave a quirk of the lips remembering walking down the stairs only to have them change and get lost, not knowing how to get back. This of course was in the time, when Voldemort had suddenly been rumored to have returned. It was a rumor that had changed everything that went on in Hogwarts when he was there.

The name Voldemort irritated Tezuka, it was the first thing he used to hear. A blank accusing of being in a league with him, just because he was Japanese, just because no one kept track with the purebloods in Japan, because Voldemort was rumored to have escaped death. True that it was said that ten years before his first year at Hogwarts Voldemort died, but some created fear using Voldemort's name. It was also then that he got into tennis and became friends with some of the regulars. He never went to his second year, but instead enrolled into a local elementary. He was surprised to hear that by December, Atobe also came back, for what reason Tezuka could only say were similar to his but with different circumstances.

It was kind of lonely to be only one of two native Asians. There was supposed to be a third native of Japan that was supposed to have come, but apparently he was needed back home to look after a younger sibling. What that person's name was he couldn't recall, Dumbledore himself only mentioned it once.

Looking back at the situation at hand, they should be going to Hogwarts now. Thinking to the dementor attack, if those creatures were to attack people at malls or shopping centers, then who would stop them? Tezuka knew he didn't have enough powers to place a ward around Japan or even just around his family. However with the vast magical resources that just the regulars had could probably protect just Tokyo for fifty years. There has never been a place outside a magical school where, by random, a group of magically blessed teenagers gathered together, in the same club as well, without knowing their magically backgrounds.

To protect everyone, they needed to learn how to control their magic, whether through a medium or none at all. The fastest way to learn, was to go to Hogwarts.

--------

Both Momo and Echizen were walking home after they were dismissed. The final decision was to contact the new head mistress of Hogwarts and explain their situation with her. Apparently everyone wasn't needed to compose the letter, so everyone just left. Fuji never did return from his water break but nobody really asked where the genius went. Echizen was still confused since he never did get to see those creatures and everyone's description of them were just so diverse. Momo was just stunned to see things that had stunning resemblance to a reaper, when he saw the dementors he thought death had come early.

Ryoma just couldn't understand what Tezuka and Atobe were planning, heck, Momo had no clue when he asked. What did they mean by placing a 'protective barrier' around the city? Why should _they_ be the ones doing that? The quiet walk back to their respective houses was uneventful. The usual barter and small conversations between the freshman and the second year was missing, both just kind of tuned into to their own worlds. Even though it was just five, the sky looked dark as if it were already seven.

Back in America, Ryoma had lots of experience with daylight savings, where they move the clock back by an hour, but that usually happened when fall was almost over, not when summer starts. The change of weather was a grave concern among the scientists, after all, what if global warming has caused such a discrepancy? Both he and Momo knew better, it was whatever was going on with this Voldemort guy that is causing all this. The sullenness, the temperature change, and the change in weather. They weren't clueless to the point they were ignorant to everything.

They arrived at Echizen's house first, no one was home, only a note gave him any idea where his cousin and his father was. Apparently, they went to a new shopping mall that had many discounts because of their grand opening. It was said, they went out to also get some groceries that were lacking and wouldn't be home until late at night. Momo had decided to stay over at Ryoma's place just long enough for a tennis game back out in the courts, but it was unsaid that the older boy was slightly worried that if those creatures came again their tennis prodigy wouldn't be able to defend himself. After all, everyone who was in the classroom at that time knew that Echizen couldn't sense or see the dementors.

The game started as the sun was setting further into the sky. A dull roaring was heard from above and all but ignored by the two tennis players, but even if they noticed without careful scrutiny no one, not even Kikumaru, would see the small motorbike hovering in the air.

--------

Atobe was a careful person, sometimes to the point of paranoia. Everything had to be perfect, his plans, his studying, even his looks. Not a strand of hair could be out of place, not a single detail not included. Sometimes it because so detailed, the main idea was lost in the details. Apparently, that's what went wrong with his plan. Everything from the talk with the headmistress, the slight flattering to the minister, and even the arrangement of their classes, it was all planned to the tiniest detail. What he forgot was that the dementors were still at large, and that their trip to Hogwarts was to find a way to stop these dementors.

Atobe also hated to be wrong. If he ever were, he'd just cover it up with some lie and be done with it. He also hated the fact that it was _Tezuka_ who proved him wrong. Just an hour ago, both were arguing about the procedure they were going to do everything. Tezuka prompted that the dementors could attack at any moment in places were no one could see them. Atobe argued that it was ridiculous, the dementors would be laying low after the stunt at Seigaku. Of course, if these were Death Eaters, then Atobe would have been correct.

Dementors did not have what normal people call emotion, they didn't care. It was harder to destroy a dementor than to force one back. They were attracted to happiness, which made them extremely dangerous. Who could help being happy? If your friend tells you a funny joke, you crack up in laughter. If your parents are coming home from a business trip, you can't help but be giddy. If you just helped some one and they thank you, you usually feel accomplished if not happy. All over Japan, these things are happening.

However, from reports, Tokyo is the only place infected with sullenness. Osaka is fine, Hokkaido is positively beaming, while Tokyo is just the opposite. Abnormal temperature changes, spreading depression, and the two second sunny-to-cloudy weather. Atobe was just pondering such things when the nightly news came on, when Tezuka's hypothesis became a reality.

"_In the grand opening of this shopping center in Tokyo, shoppers have been complaining that the air conditioner was turned on too cold, after that people have just been dropping dead, literally. No one knows why, investigators have asked all shoppers and workers to evacuate the building just in case it was a case of poisoning."_

"_Well, as head of the investigation team, we are sorry to say that we don't have any clues that anything went on. Nothing on the security cameras, and in case the poison was still trapped in the building, no one has dared enter yet."_

"_However there has been an eye witness, a teenage boy from a local school."_

Atobe watched as a teenage boy, with a short crew cut and a scar of an 'x' on the right side, come into view with some people, who were supposedly his friends, in the background. Carefully looking at the uniform, he saw the small lettering of '_St. Rudolph_' on the emblem. That was weird, didn't Tezuka mention that Fuji's younger brother went to that school?

"_These _things_ with large black hoods were going toward the shopping center while we were leaving. Clammy hands, hoods all the way over their faces, I doubt they had faces, and a kind of sucking noise as if they were sucking in air forcefully. Passing them made the air seem colder…"_

Atobe knew a headache was coming along, and he didn't have to be telepathic to know that Tezuka must be having one as well.

--------

Fuji Yuuta thought it was strange that hundreds of people died in that shopping center for an unknown reason. If he still believed in fairytales, he would say a monster came and killed them all. What made this event even stranger was that he saw the hooded figures, but no one else did. He went to the shopping center because Hajime didn't want to return to the dorms immediately and suggested that they go out somewhere. Most of their regulars ended up going, only their captain and his double's partner didn't.

Everything was going as normal as they could ever, with some fooling around and other just conversing with each other. Everybody was in their own little comfort zones, and nothing too silly was going on that would turn heads. Just some small chatting about training, pro tennis, and just what to do in the shopping center. When his cell phone rung, Yuuta didn't think much about it. After all, it wasn't strange that his sister would call him or some times his brother would just give him to surprise calls.

"_Aniki?"_

"_Yuuta, go home _now_."_

When his brother said that, it was in an air that just meant 'do it and don't argue back.' The voice was defiantly his brother's, but those words and the commanding presence didn't seem to be like the Syusuke he grew up with, nor the Syusuke that he sees with his occasional visits home. Whatever that was about, Yuuta didn't know, but he did end up going the opposite direction back to the dorms. That's when all this happened.

Fuji Yuuta just looked toward the sky. _What is happening?_

---------

A list of victims glowed on the television screen. Those that were dead, and those in critical condition. Of those that Tezuka's eyes were brought to, he saw some names that made him slightly cringe.

"…_Echizen Nanjirou…"_ Ryoma's father.

"…_Kaidoh…"_ From his memory, that was Kaidoh's younger brother.

"…_Oishi…"_ The name of Oishi's mother.

"…_Tezuka…"_ Tezuka had to look away, while the others were in critical condition, his father was gone. A bitter laugh came to his lips, it was his father that originally encouraged him to go to Hogwarts. In the end, his father was the one killed because of it.

Dementors usually couldn't kill, they'd just suck out your soul and leave you with just a body. Apparently, now dementors could do much more with the help of Voldemort. Kunimitsu felt like cursing Voldemort, but doing that wouldn't help the fact that tomorrow someone would probably come to inform his mother that her husband was gone. Tezuka wasn't about to tell his mother when she was stressed with fever, that would kill her.

All he could do was make sure no more casualties like this would happen again. That's what his father would have wanted. It was ironic that those who felt the least willing to go were had family members attacked. Tezuka didn't want to return to Hogwarts for a certain amount of reason, some logical and mostly selfish. Echizen would probably go now for his father, Kaidoh was pretty loyal to his family no matter what was seen of him, and Oishi. What Tezuka was hesitant about most was Oishi. His friend has a big heart, sometime larger than he thought.

_This will not be pretty_.

---------

What Tezuka wasn't informed of was what happened also that night, which would have changed everything if he bothered to give Atobe another call.

" 's been a while, 'Tobe," the half giant greeted the smaller of the two.

"Hagrid, it is delightful to see you too, I see that you didn't try to improve your Japanese at all," Atobe said dryly. Hagrid had always had pronounced his name kind of like 'Toby' which didn't make Atobe too happy at times. Tezuka's name was even more hilarious under Hagrid's pronunciation.

However, this was no time for reminiscing about the past, he knew what happened to Tezuka's father, and there was no point of stressing the Seigaku captain even more when Tezuka also had his own teammates to confront. "You told Headmistress McGonagall right?"

" 'ye," Hagrid nodded.

"I suppose we're going to have to move faster than I planned."

"Japan's no longer safe for you or 'our friend's," Hagrid said heavily accented.

"What do you mean by that?"

"He's 'ere, You-know-who's in Japan."

A/N: And I will stop it there. I'm sorry about Hagrid, I don't know how to do his accent. I'm trying, but it's just not working sometimes. I don't like how this chapter ended, it just seems so sudden as if like it's just _there_. I'm supposed to be doing history homework and the notes for Gone with the Wind.

Well, here's the main motivation and problem. This will be interesting if I just let the story flow on its own. Hm…it's worth the risk. This story is having a mind of it's own, I can't do anything about it anymore. I'll just let it go on it's own until I decide it is time to stop.

I appreciate all your reviews, they lighten up my day just like that! Thanks for reading and please review!

I won't be able to update for a while since I did two chapters in like a month and Valentine's Day is coming up and I still have to finish that story. Thanks for waiting!


	7. Mood

**Magical Rackets**

**Summary:** "Not all wizards use wands, some use their magic through other mediums. Swords, brushes, pencils….and in your case, tennis rackets." HPXover

Author's Notes

I just finished like 22 chapter notes for Gone with the Wind. That book is interesting but scandalous. Not to mention I went to this nice opera tonight. I'm just a weird teenager who likes operas. It was quite interesting, something about a magic flute. I wasn't going to start on this chapter until March, but the magic flute made me remember of magical rackets and I was like 'I really should write some for it shouldn't I?"

So here's the end of my ramble and the beginning of the seventh chapter!

Mood

Oshitari Yuushi noticed something. Actually it was Jirou who pointed it out first, but Oshitari was betting that he was the only one who was putting some thought into it. Atobe had been appearing out of no where at certain times. They were always sudden, but almost planned. At the break between first and second period, Atobe was walking behind him when Oshitari turned around to see that Atobe was gone. Then in front of their second period classroom Atobe was behind him again. There were also times were he swore to have seen Atobe going around the corner with Shishido, but when Oshitari turned to see Atobe right behind him conversing with some teacher. It was like Atobe was at both sides of the campus at the same time.

How did Jirou notice this Oshitari didn't know and doubted he wanted to, however when curiosity got ahead of common sense, Yuushi couldn't help but ask. The Akutagawa just stared at him funny with the 'you-haven't-noticed-yet' look, actually the blonde said that after staring at him but that wasn't the point. Jirou just smiled sleepily at him and said something truly mind boggling:

"Now, _that_ is something for me to know, and for you to find out."

With that the boy fell asleep again, but that made Yuushi want to wake the boy up and pester him with questions. It was a miracle for Jirou that it didn't happen. Oshitari was an observant person, on the courts and off. For the whole week, Atobe was off. He didn't know what was off, but something was just off. Then again, everything was a bit off.

Ever since that mass slaughter in that new shopping center, Atobe was off. From what Oshitari knew, investigators haven't found the cause of the deaths nor did they dare enter the building for quite a while. The lists of casualties had been long, it was almost like a war. Lost lists of wounded and dead informing the unfortunate families of whom ever they lost.

It would have surprised the Hyotei genius how close his comparison was.

-------

It hung like a dark cloud over the family, Oishi knew it would once the list came on last night. The atmosphere seemed surreal, almost nightmarish. His father was at work at the moment, so the house was quiet other than Eiji's attempts on cheering him up. It wasn't as if he felt sad, it was as if he could feel nothing. A sort of numbness. Usually his mother would come into his room asking if he or Eiji needed anything, but knowing that his mother would never come through at door and bother him again made him kind of…sad.

Oishi knew from practice today that he should be feeling sadder. Tezuka had a strained look on his face that never was there before, Kaidoh turned away whenever someone tried to talk to him, and Echizen didn't come to practice at all. Fuji wore a sympathetic smile, but that smile succeeded in angering Oishi in a way that he never was before. The smile Fuji had on may have been just trying to be cautious of his feelings, but what Oishi read of that smile differed.

_My brother escaped, but your mother did not._ Even when Fuji smoothed his usual cheery smile into a somewhat sad and what may have been understanding but all Oishi read was mocking, a mocking that Fuji Yuuta should have been killed too but Syusuke managed to get his brother to escape that fate. For once in his life, he completely loathed the tensai. How was it such a coincidence that Fuji wanted Yuuta to go back to his dorms because Syusuke 'felt ill winds.'

_It's just not fair_…

-------

Atobe tried to relax his nerves, but it didn't work. Voldemort was in Japan. No, if his insight was correct, Voldemort was in Tokyo. He told Tezuka to inform all of his Regulars involved that they'd be leaving the day after tomorrow. It was sudden, but it was too dangerous to stay for two weeks like they planned. Atobe never told Tezuka about Voldemort being in Japan, it would make the other teen hasty and use unwise judgment. Last time Atobe expected Tezuka to be more mature; Tezuka went off to play a long game with him succeeding in shattering his shoulder. If it was something as dangerous as Voldemort, Atobe knew he couldn't give Tezuka any information until the boy was at Hogwarts and out of reach.

Atobe sat on his bed his fingers tapping against each other, not idly but frantically, trying to think of a way for them to leave to Hogwarts without Voldemort knowing so. If his previous encounter with Voldemort was enough information, then Voldemort would know though spies. It was important to keep the departure discreet. He was smart, but not to the point where he could think of every possible scenario. Atobe's prowess had a limit believe it or not.

If it were possible, Voldemort may have a spy in them. Tezuka, he knew couldn't be one after all they both went against Voldemort in the only year they were there. Kawamura, the dual personality guy who played Kabaji, didn't seem to have that type of personality but no one could be sure. The slam dunker, the tensai, and the 'viper' weren't very likely suspects. (Suspects? A detective drama already?) That left the data man and their freshman. The data guy was surely creepy, and seemed to be a spy material with his note book and all. Echizen, Atobe had doubts on. The seventh grader's case was extraordinary, he was the first one to be approached by who was supposedly Dumbledore, but he is the only one who _can't_ see the dementors. Then again, who knows what the first year could or couldn't see.

If there really was a spy among them, there was only one way to rat the person out. Catch them in action, but that meant one of them had to stay here in order to do that. Even without a spy it was risky to send about ten people on an international portkey across Asia without Voldemort noticing the sudden amount of magic needed to do that. Atobe swallowed painfully before leaning back against his pillows, there was something else he'd have to keep from Tezuka. He would have to stay in Japan. That itself wouldn't be a problem telling Tezuka, but the fact Kunimitsu doesn't know Voldemort was here…

Atobe Keigo had to smirk weakly, this was great. He'd have to stay in Japan for who knows how long, _alone_, with a madman who can kill with two words and not bat an eye. The joy…

--------

Tezuka knew better than to self destruct at his father's death. It was hard though. At practice, Fuji wore a smile that had hidden meanings in it. Most would have just seen it as a sympathetic smile but Tezuka knew better. For some reason it seemed as if Oishi noticed, Tezuka noted to himself. Fuji kept talking about how unfortunate it was and how lucky he was that his younger brother narrowly escaped. If Syusuke were truly happy to that, the tensai wouldn't have said anything but just smiled happily. If it were like that, Tezuka wouldn't have been irritated at his classmate, but it was like Fuji was trying to purposely mock them.

It just occurred to Tezuka that he didn't understand Fuji anymore. He just couldn't understand the boy, those smile seemed foreign to those he used to wear. Syusuke's expressions had layers of hidden meanings, no longer the simple expressions. This was not the time to think about this though. They were planning to leave the day after tomorrow. That gave them roughly 36 hours to prepare. Every minute was passing by like sand in an hourglass.

He didn't know about anyone else, but Tezuka was not so ready for this trip. Going back to those enchanted walls that mesmerized him, the adventures that made matured him, and the discrimination he faced when he was younger.

The TV in the living room down stairs was on making a small buzzing sound, his mother was calling his name to eat dinner, and the nightly newspaper sat on his bed. With a sigh Tezuka leaned back into the chair, so much for concentrating on his homework.

The small print of his textbook and the neat writing of his own writing were slowly fading from his sight. Taking off his glasses and slouching into a more comfortable position in the chair, he allowed his vision to fade into black. With that, Tezuka just allowed another day to pass.

-------

Fuji walked up to the tennis courts not saying a word. Other students stared unashamed; it was unusual for Fuji to… Well, since no one else spoke up, they just went about their own business ignoring it. Those in the tennis club didn't say anything as Fuji walked across their courts to the Regular courts. The Regulars however looked up and the first thing they asked was:

"Yuuta, where's your brother?"

It wasn't the older Fuji, it was the younger, Fuji Yuuta. The expression he wore spelled trouble.

A/N: I'm sorry this chapter was short, but ever since the sixth chapter everything has been getting out of hand. I broke down at lunch in front of my history teacher, she was nice about it though. I got to skip fifth period. - Well, my computer with all my fanfiction just crashed. Everything is gone and I don't want my story to be ruined because I can't get out of my own depression. So I'll write when I feel better.

I'm very sorry, I'm trying to get money for a new lab top. I have about $7 and I need like $1000 for an okay lab top. I'm really sorry. This really isn't a good reason but I'm stressed out with my studies and I can't get a part-time job since my studies take up so much time. I have a basketball game on Wednesday and I'm having more practice so my schedule is filled and I don't really have time for fanfiction.

You can see that I started this chapter a while back and now it's just like…well yeah. I try to finish another chapter but I am really sorry.


	8. Favors and Quiddich

**Magical Rackets**

**Summary:** "Not all wizards use wands, some use their magic through other mediums. Swords, brushes, pencils….and in your case, tennis rackets." HPXover

**Favors and Quiddich**

Atobe Keigo hated to ask for favors. It was just against his policy to lower himself to ask someone for help. Especially when those favors imposed on someone else's personal problems. Asking for help was degrading to his image, asking for someone to face their skeletons in the closet (which they hid away for legit reasons) was degrading to his self image.

Especially when those personal problems stemmed from the origin of his request.

"Goddammit Atobe, I told you before: I don't want anything to do with your magical crap."

Scratch that, Atobe was definetly getting this favor. Here the great and almighty Atobe Keigo was lowering himself to ask a favor, yet he was unable to be equally as gracious! The nerve. It wasn't like he was asking the impossible and it wasn't like Atobe hadn't helped him either. This transaction was not one way, if Atobe remembered his request correctly. Either way, those who don't attack first won't get the advantage.

Atobe service play.

"That's just because Tezuka petrified you and you wet your pants because you were so scared."

"Atobe!"

15 love. Service Ace. Ah, a low blow indeed. Maybe that was a little below the belt.

"Of course I was scared, tell that to an eleven year old who went to go visit his friend in England being completely unable to move his body after some suspicious masked men came charging into the room and started fighting with wooden sticks that flashed colored lights!"

"But you became so amazed at the whole concept of wizards that you begged me to buy you a wand, which is currently under your bed in the same box that it came with," Atobe replied without missing a beat. 30 love.

"Yes, it's under my bed for a reason," the other retorted. "I never want to use it to hurt others again." 30-15.

"But how many people died already?" 40-15.

"..."

"I'm trying to prevent more from dying."

"It's just taking Seigaku to Hogwarts, nothing else."

Game Atobe. 1-0.

"Thank you Shishido."

-----

Fuji Yuuta usually tried to keep out of his brother's business as much as possible. After all, he had been the one to demand that Fuji stay out of his. But ever since the catastrophe at the new shopping center, Shusuke was acting weird. Well, his brother had always acted a bit odd at times, eating super spicy foods with the same smile or enjoying one of Inui's atrocious juices without gagging. As a genius, Shusuke did some incredible things, and as half a psycopath, his brother did some really creepy things.

If one day someone who crossed Fuji Shusuke disappeared without a trace, Yuuta would not be surprised. He'd be even less surprised if that someone crossed him by messing with one of his friends, mainly Tezuka Kunimitsu. Especially Tezuka Kunimitsu.

Yesterday, Shusuke left the house at the crack of dawn silently. It had been a coincidence that Yuuta saw his brother walk out of the house. It was strange enough that he actually spent the night at home, but with the current poison scare, he felt obligated to stay with his parents for a while. He woke up to use the restroom when he heard the gentle creaking of a door opening and the final click of it closing. Looking out the window of the bathroom which faced the street, Yuuta saw his brother turn the corner wearing casual street clothes.

Dismissing the lack of tennis gear, Yuuta assumed it was an early morning practice or team bonding event before trudging back to his room. But two hours later before he left for practice, Yuuta recieved a phone call from the vice captain, Oishi, wondering whether Fuji was sick because he didn't go to practice.

His brother was a very loyal and committed person. If he decided he was joining the tennis club, Shusuke would follow through by not missing practices and supporting his teammates. The only times their parents were able to keep the elder away from a tennis racket was when he was sick, unable to get out of bed sick. Shusuke hardly played hooky during school either. Faking illness to get a couple hours of sleep, yes (who hasn't done that?), but miss out on school completely, no.

Miss out on tennis practice, never.

Today, he was going to find out whether his older brother was really going to practice like he said.

-----

"So that's what happened," Fuji Shusuke whispered. "I never..."

"He wouldn't have told you," the other said gently. "Tezuka didn't want to burden anyone else with such a thing."

It had been way too easy. Luring the Japanese genius had proved to be a walk through Diagon Alley. All he did was throw out the line and the fish came on its own. Old news of the discrimination Tezuka faced throughout his stay at Hogwarts by his own house, the lies Tezuka was told that hurt him several times, and the self righteous headmaster who sent Tezuka straight into danger. It had been the Dark Lord who saved the boy from his assured death, who wished to end such foolishness by recruiting capable

It was laughable that this boy was trying to find the truth when Tezuka Kunimitsu was so close by. How ironic that the one of his friends was coming to Death Eaters for answers to his questions. And answer he did:

Each lie was part truth, each truth was part lie.

Little snippets of useless information were exchanged and almost instantly, Fuji Shusuke was trapped. At this rate, he didn't even need to perform the Imperius to convert the middle schooler. The trap was too perfect to be possible.

"Please take me to your 'Dark Lord'."

And the conclusion would be equally as perfect. Yaxley smiled.

Lord Voldemort will be pleased.

-----

Oishi Syuchirou tried not to worry when the genius didn't show up for practice. There was an assortment of reasons for Fuji's absence. Maybe he was sick, maybe he had an emergency, maybe he forgot there had been a morning practice, maybe he was finally defeated by Inui juice, maybe he was helping a pregnant woman, maybe he was…his thoughts trailed from the plausible to absolutely ridiculous.

Even with his irk toward Fuji currently, it was hard not to worry with all these strange and dangerous things going on. A dark lord that wanted to take over the world, a boy half way across the world who was supposed to be the savior, and a bunch of middle school kids caught right in the middle of it. Tezuka who had always been a very emotionally stable force in everyone's lives was also shaken by recent events. Damn, if Tezuka was showing a wider range of emotion than a wooden post then this situation was definitely grave.

With all this going on, Oishi just wished he could keep an eye on all of the Seigaku tennis club members to ensure their safety with his own hands, no matter how useless they were. What if those dementor thing came back and Fuji was…

The yellow tennis ball flew by his ear as it rebounded from Momoshiro's harsh smash. This was the third time.

"Oishi-sempai," the cheerful second year commented thoughtlessly. "You weren't even concentrating on the game! At least give me a serious game!"

A tennis game. Just a short time ago, that was all life was about. The intercity tournament, the Kantou Tournament, and the upcoming Nationals Tournament were the only events that really seemed to matter.

"Are you going to serve?"

Winning Nationals, as Tezuka promised. Being the best doubles pair, as Eijie vowed. Now, it seemed so trivial compared to the recent events.

"Oishi-sempai?"

It seemed so silly compared to Voldemort and the dementors. It seemed silly to be so worried about a game when people were dying. It seemed so silly to still be focusing on a mere match when there were graver situations.

"Eh, Oishi-sempai, where are you going?"

It seemed so….stupid.

-----

"Yuuta, what are you doing here?"

Tezuka Kunimitsu looked up from his paperwork briefly to verify the younger Fuji before returning to his work. His pen scratched soundlessly against the plastic clip board while his mind worked up a fury of thoughts that tore his mind with various scenarios. Over his thoughts he managed to slyly eavesdrop on his underclassmen.

The one who had spoke up was Momoshiro. The second year had wandered out of the courts in confusion of where the vice captain went. The ones who joined in were Inui, Echizen, and Kaidoh.

"Has my brother come to practice?"

"No, not yet. If you came here asking, that mean there is only a 6 percent chance that Fuji is sick."

6 percent? He thought it had been lower. After all, how many times had Fuji gotten sick before?

"If it's Fuji-sempai, I wouldn't be so worried."

The first year was probably the most worried of them all. Tezuka tried not to quirk a smile.

"Normally that would be the case, but think about it! Remember the dementors?"

"Fushhh…speak louder would you, idiot?"

The first and second years that began to crowd around the group quickly dispersed with a quick glare. Kaidoh had always been rather level headed and considerate to the situation, but of course his long time rival brought out the competitive spirit within him.

"What was that?!"

"So what have you heard about Fuji-sempai?"

"He's been out since early morning and no one at my house has heard of him since."

His hand stopped. Fuji hadn't been seen since morning. Normally Tezuka wouldn't worry about Fuji either. (He'd worry about what Fuji was plotting.) But these were strange times indeed. Dumbledore himself had warned Tezuka two years ago:

"_Things are going to change. We will go through dark and dangerous times…not now, but soon_."

And as expected, they were going through dark and dangerous times. Figuratively and literally, Tezuka frowned as dark clouds hid the sun behind them. Almost immediately, a shadow cast itself on the Seigaku tennis courts. It in itself was ominous.

With that warning was an unspoken word. An unspoken expectation.

"You must do what is expected of you."

His Head of House had said to him curtly. That day, Severus Snape had found him rummaging through his potions cabinet.

-----

Shishido Ryou eyed the car with doubt. With scratches all over the front and sides along with the cracked front and side windows, the seemingly second hand blue car looked worse for wear. It looked like someone had crashed it into a tree and proceeded to drive it through a jungle. The hood was dented pretty badly too.

Whoever had this car in the first place either was a suicidal adventurist or a wizard. Seeing as it came from Atobe, this car definitely belonged to one of the latter type. Opening the door to the driver's seat with a harsh yank, Shishido cautiously peered inside.

The car inside was not that bad actually. Sure the seats and sides looked scratched (by some kind of animal) and the clutch was manual, but the car itself seemed to be able to fit a group of 8 to 10 without any problem. Taking a seat in the worn out driver's seat, Shishido turned on the car engine to hear a rickety hum that toned down gradually.

If he was lucky maybe the radio would work too.

"I see that you're satisfied," a voice greeted with its usual self praise. "Our good friend Arthur Weasley enchanted that car."

"You know those names mean nothing to me," Shishdo replied sharply. Tossing his cap on the other front seat, he realized that the interior of the car began repairing itself. The cracks in the window began to disappear and the scratches on the seats started to mend. It was assumed that the outer cover of the car was similarly fixing itself. The loud sound of metal bending proved his guess as the hood of the car straightened out. He looked in the now repairing side mirror to see the grand magician brandishing a wooden stick high above his head.

Show off.

-----

"We're ready."

"Ah."

"Everything will be fine. I made sure that you and your group would have a decent driver and vehicle."

"I can't believe I said yes to this."

"Come now Tezuka, this is one of my plans. As long as our snitch does what he's supposed to, everything will be fine."

"That is if the bludger doesn't come hurtling at us unexpectedly."

"Well I made sure my beater knows what he's doing, but does yours?"

"I know what I'm doing."

"Oh, you're taking up the post personally?"

"As long as the Keeper can protect our goals."

"That's without asking."

"That's exactly what I'm afraid of."

"Tezu--!"

"…_Please hang up and try again_."

-----

Kawamura Takashi had a long talk with his father about their impending trip. It was a really bad time, he knew. It was really inconvenient but unavoidable, he knew. It was really important, his father knew.

"Nothing's a coincidence," his father had said gently surrendering to this trip that had no definite return. With a reassuring pat on the shoulder, his father returned downstairs to the restaurant to get ready for the next day.

Fuji did eventually turn up at practice much to everyone's relief. He wrapped himself in his regular's jersey with a slight comment about the abnormal chill. Tezuka made the genius run thirty laps for being late and collect balls with the first years. Yuuta played a couple of practice matches with various regulars and non regulars while waiting for his brother. (Apparently he had skipped his own afternoon practice.)

Tezuka had excused the non regulars early allowing them to rest after the tedious fitness they did. Without much hassle, all the regulars crowded around Tezuka waiting for something. Something in Tezuka's expression had always commanded attention, but now it demanded.

"We are leaving tomorrow," Tezuka said curtly with his usual stoic voice. "He's on the move. We might not get another chance after tomorrow. 11 o'clock at night in front of the school. We're traveling light."

Fuji Yuuta who didn't understand the situation only looked around at the anxious faces with various degrees of emotion, the least being his brother's and Tezuka's.

They left practice with hesitant smiles and reminders about tomorrow morning's practice. The atmosphere was heavy with a superficial happiness to it. Oishi seemed to be trying extra hard to smile and laugh but his hands were shaking. Fuji smiled with his usual charm, but he was clutching his left arm gently as if it hurt. Echizen kept his aloof, nonchalant attitude but flexed his dominant hand nervously. Inui and Tezuka both adjusted their glasses to hide their worried gaze. Eijie laughed and smiled just as hard and as fake as his doubles partner. Kawamura stayed quiet.

The mood they parted was tense and strained, but with a strange assurance about tomorrow.

Tomorrow was finally the day everything would take flight. All Taka planned to bring was a change of clothes, some essentials, and his tennis racket. It sounded foolish to bring a racket along, but as he tested the gut gently, Kawamura just knew it would come in handy.

After all, it was this magic switch that got him BURNING!

-----

Everything came down to tomorrow. If the plan succeeded, they could bring a quick conclusion to the foolishness before the true problem began.

Atobe Keigo and Tezuka Kunimitsu were adept dualists and fearsome enemies, but with just the two of them, it would be child's play to bring their plans into completion. If all the Seigaku regulars were to fully mature their magical potential, it could become troublesome. It was good that Yaxley was able to bring Fuji Shusuke into their fold.

He glanced down at his arm and kissed the unblemished skin of his left forearm. His regular's jersey lay forgotten and discarded at the floor.

Close, he chanted to himself. I'm close.

_To completing your wishes, Lord Voldemort. _

-----

A/N: YES, FINALLY ANOTHER FREAKING CHAPTER. Dude, I was like on hiatus for like almost 3 years. Crap. I found this unwritten chapter on my hard drive over Christmas and was like 'Oh I should finish this shouldn't I?" Well I finally got things moving. Haha, Shin Prince of Tennis is out now. It's been a while hasn't it?


End file.
